And we’re back again….Texas Governor Greg Abbott calls a fourth special session. Vouchers are back on the agenda as well as immigration bills, school finance and safety are potentially finally up for debate, procedural rules and processes are being thrown out the window. Marisa, Luis, and Jaime take a break at the Capitol to discuss what this all means for Texans.

Marisa and Luis discuss vouchers and immigration bills more than halfway through the third special session.

The Every Texan team talks about developments on vouchers and border security during the first two days of the special. Hold on to your hats.

We're baaaaccckkk.....The special session starts next week and the Governor's proclamation setting the agenda for session came out today. Marisa and Luis review the topics and talk about what to expect at the Capitol next week.

Texas is re-checking eligibility for all 5.9 million Texans with Medicaid through May 2024 following a 3-year nationwide pause on disenrollments during the pandemic (sometimes called Medicaid “unwinding”). This is an enormous undertaking, unprecedented in scale for Texas Medicaid’s eligibility and enrollment system. Millions of Texans, mostly children in low-income families and postpartum mothers, risk losing their health insurance. Over half a million Texans were removed from Medicaid health coverage in June alone, according to new data released by Texas HHSC. Joined by analysts from the Every Texan team, Marisa discusses the unwinding's harmful impact on Texans already struggling to make ends meet and get the care they need. Host: Marisa Bono, Every Texan CEO Guests: Luis Figueroa, Every Texan Chief of Legislative AffairsKarla Martinez, Every Texan Policy AnalystStacey Pogue, Every Texan Senior Policy Analyst Go deeper: Read: First Data Shows Alarming Impact of Medicaid Unwinding in TexasRead: ‘Should Texas’ Health Insurance Marketplace be state-run or federally-run?’ is not the right questionWatch: Every Texan Community Conversations: The Unwinding

On Thursday, June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in public and private college admissions, reversing a policy that schools and universities have used to increase diversity for decades. Joined by analysts and experts from the Every Texan team, Marisa discusses the ruling's harmful implications on policy and people both in Texan and nationwide. Host: Marisa Bono, Every Texan CEO Guests: Kimberly Clarida, Every Texan Higher Education Policy AnalystJonathan Malagon, Every Texan Director of Equity and LearningJaime Puente, Every Texan Director of Economic Opportunity Highlights: Marisa – "It undermines the integrity of our highest court when you’re overturning decades-long precedent in a way that’s not faithful to the Court’s historical interpretations."Kimberly – "If we’re going to address racial issues that have come about because of racism and race, we’re going to have to develop race-based policies to address them. Race-neutral policies won’t fix them."Jonathan – "This ruling really ignores the enduring impact and effects of systemic racism. Deeming race irrelevant in law vis a vis college admissions does not make it so in life. The Court is living in an illusion that racial inequality is only a problem of the past."Jaime – "The Court has brought back to the forefront this false idea that we can live in a colorblind society after hundreds of years of living in a society that is based on racial categorization; this artificial system of distributing power based on someone’s identity, whether it’s their ethnic identity or the color of their skin."

The 88th Legislative Session ended...and the first Special Session began the next morning! Luis and Marisa chat about developments in the final days of session, including what happened with HB5, how the tax break negotiations between the Senate and the House broke down, and more. They also explain what a Special Session is, and what Texans can expect in coming days (spoiler alert: it's mostly about tax cuts). For a good explainer on tax compression and the impact of tax cuts on Texas families, check out "Who Doesn't Pay Taxes" by Dick Lavine and "Property Tax Compression: Growing the State Share Without Improving School Funding" by Chandra Villanueva.

All eyes are focused on impeachment this weekend, but we can't lose sight of the fact that the countdown to Sine Die can now be done in hours rather than days. Sunday is the last day for the House and Senate to adopt conference committee reports or adopt the other chamber’s amendments. Like the end of a school year, some members are starting to say their goodbyes to their deskmates and their bills that didn’t pass while others make last-minute changes to legislation through informal conference committees. From preemption to vouchers to food security to immigration and more, Luis and Marisa chat about where our priority bills stand as of May 26, including some rare bi-partisan wins and some major lost opportunities for all Texans.

With less than 28 days left in the Texas legislative session, Luis and Marisa talk about which bills are moving, which ones are dead, and which ones are... living dead. From healthcare to education to immigration, find out where you can make a difference on the issues that affect all Texans.

No matter what we look like, where we come from, or what we do for a living, we can all agree that working people should have the pay and benefits they need to work in dignity to support their families. 74% of Texas workers do not have access to any form of paid medical leave and 64% do not have access to unpaid family medical leave. This reality leaves both families and employers vulnerable during times when employees may need to care for a newborn baby or recently adopted child. But for some reason, elected state leaders want to give more corporate tax breaks to wealthy companies and take away the power of local government to support workers. This session, Texans of all backgrounds are fighting back with proactive bills to ensure freedom and fairness for all Texans. Guest: Amanda Posson, Every Texan Senior Policy Analyst Host: Marisa Bono, Every Texan CEO Resources: The Texas Family Act: Paid Parental Leave Strengthens Families and Small Businesses in TexasAttacks on local democracy: Testimony to the House Committee on State Affairs on HB 2127 and SB 814Wealthy corporations should pay what they owe: HB 5 Is Like Chapter 313 But Worse

For twenty years, Texas had a program – known as Chapter 313 –  that let wealthy corporations avoid paying what they owed to support our schools. These companies got to keep $31 billion that would have otherwise gone to help our children. The program, which was never shown to work, finally expired last year, but House Speaker Phelan is trying to bring it back this session through HB 5. The bill would exclude renewable energy projects from the program, be more expensive than Chapter 313, create fewer jobs, entirely lack wage and benefit requirements, weaken transparency/accountability provisions and, most importantly, lack a sunset date that would force periodic review of the new program by future Legislatures. Senior Policy Analyst explains why the bill is like Ch. 313, only worse. More analysis here, take action this week to fight back!

With 41 days left in session, Marisa talks with Luis, Jaime, and Shannon Halbrook about the major takeaways from the House budget debate and what Texans can expect in the next couple of weeks at the Capitol before looking at the committee deadlines. Guests: Luis Figueroa, Every Texan's Chief of Legislative Affairs, and Every Texan Senior Policy Analysts Jaime Puente and Shannon Halbrook Host: Marisa Bono, Every Texan CEO

Texas has used the federally-administered HealthCare.Gov insurance marketplace for the last 10 years. A few bills have been filed in the 2023 Texas Legislative Session that would replace HealthCare.Gov and create a state-based Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace. Successfully running a marketplace takes an ongoing commitment to both coverage as a value and making public programs work. HealthCare.Gov has record enrollment, with 2.4 million Texans accessing quality, affordable insurance through the marketplace, and it has achieved the highest enrollment growth rate among states for three years running. Which leads us to the question – if it ain't broke, why fix it? Guests: Luis Figueroa, Every Texan's Chief of Legislative Affairs, and Every Texan Senior Policy Analyst Stacey Pogue Host: Marisa Bono, Every Texan CEO Resources: Check out Stacey's recent white paper: ‘Should Texas’ Health Insurance Marketplace be state-run or federally-run?’ is not the right question and ACA Health Insurance fact sheet on the thriving Texas health insurance marketplace. For even more information on this issue and what you can do, visit Cover Texas Now.

This Thursday is Budget Night, a big debate in classic lege fashion set right before the Easter weekend. The Legislature’s only constitutional obligation during session is to pass a balanced budget. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee signed off on sending its 2024-25 plan to the House floor, which spends about $303 billion over two years. Here to talk with Marisa about what to expect this week and what #txlege should be thinking about if it wants to invest in the true priorities of Texans is our Chief of Legislative Affairs Luis Figueroa, Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy Katie Martin Lightfoot, and Senior Fiscal Analyst Shannon Holbrooke. On Thursday, tune into Budget Night here: https://house.texas.gov/video-audio/ Read more about the People's Budget here: https://everytexan.org/peoples-budget/ More about the campaign to increase pay for state workers: www.bit.ly/texanstogether

Despite no evidence of widespread election fraud, a "bad batch" of bills were heard in the Senate State Affairs and House Elections Committee that threaten to undermine and restrict the vote of all Texans if passed. Chief of Legislative Affairs explains how these bills are politially motivated solutions in search of a problem, and what we can do to push back against bills that make it harder to vote.

"Vouchers, riders, and tax cuts, Oh My!" Follow the yellow brick road with Chief of Legislative Affairs Luis Figueroa, Marisa, and special guest Rep. Diego Bernal as we recap all the major highlights from the Lege this week, from the tax plan that came out of the Senate to postpartum healthcare in the House to the DEI rider on the budget. Things are heating up at the Capitol, get up to date with this episode.

In the midst of record-high grocery store prices and inflation, over 4 million Texans experience food insecurity, which is difficulty meeting basic food needs. Food insecurity has a disproportionate impact on Black and Brown communities. This week, we learn more about the face of hunger in Texas, how the end of the public health emergency has created a quiet crisis in Texas, and how some key bills this legislative session could help lessen the blow. Guests: Every Texan Director of Health & Food Justice Rachel Cooper and Every Texan Food Policy Analyst Curtis Hills Host: Marisa Bono, Every Texan CEO Resources: Hey, college students! You may be eligible for SNAP food benefits. Check your eligibility and learn how to apply ⁠here⁠. Read Rachel's testimony to the House Human Services Committee Supporting HB 1287, a bill that will reduce hunger in Texas by updating the state’s outdated vehicle asset test limits.HB 2836 will reduce barriers to SNAP benefits by extending eligibility from 6 to 12 months. Check out this one-pager to learn more.

The property tax cut debate is in full swing at the Texas Legislature, and our Director of Policy and Advocacy Chandra Villanueva and Senior Fiscal Policy Analyst Dick Lavine tell tales from the front lines on the latest developments. There are two proposals, one in the House and one in the Senate - do these proposals but Texans first? Do they offer real relief for working Texans? Are we making true investments are just one time expenditures? The team breaks it down in this episode - we highly reccomend listening to the School Funding 101 podcast episode and using these resources on Compression and Recapture to compliment this episode.

One of the bills we identified in our "Worst of the Worst" episode got set for hearings next week - learn about how to engage next week to fight back against this harmful preemption bill. Luis and Marisa also discuss bills that reflect good policy, good values, that we hope get a hearing this session.

Picture it: Texas, 2023. We have the worst uninsured rate in the nation. Five million Texans don’t have access to affordable healthcare. Rural hospitals are closing. We need a system where everyone can get the care they need when they need it, and Medicaid expansion is the first step Texas leaders can take toward that future. It has broad bipartisan support and would bring billions of federal dollars back to Texas. Most importantly, it would bring relief to Texas families. Yet, Texas leaders refuse to give Medicaid expansion a hearing this session.  How the heck did we get here? Anne Dunkelberg, our senior fellow on health care access, and Karla Martinez, our health care policy analyst, join Marisa to break it down. If you agree that every Texan – no matter race, income, gender, or zip code – deserves equitable access to health care, go to sickofitTX.org and join the fight to bring Medicaid expansion to Texas and give 1.4 million uninsured and underinsured Texans health care.